IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “I’m proud of our pit crew for doing what they did and everyone on this team. It’s important to come here and not let the pressure get to you and I think we did a good job of that. Every time you go to victory lane, it’s special. I’m just having fun. It’s a dream come true and we’re having the time of our lives.”

·Martin Truex Jr.

----------------

·Martin Truex Jr. won the 17th annual Tales of the Turtles 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Chicagoland Speedway Sunday in the opening round of the playoffs. It is Truex’s 12th win in 432 career MENCS races and his series-high fifth this year.

·With the win Truex automatically advances to the Round of 12 in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

·This marks the second straight year that Truex has won in Chicago and it is his third career playoff win.

·This marked the 12th straight playoff race that was won by a driver who was still alive in the playoffs. The streak dates back to the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was won by Kyle Busch.

·Each of the top six finishers and 10 of the first 11 today were playoff drivers.

·Chase Elliott (2nd) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 27 MENCS races this year and his seventh in the top-5. He tied a career-best finish which he achieved three times previously, most recently on June 18 of this year at Michigan.

·Kevin Harvick (3rd) posted his 17th top-10 finish in 27 races this year. It was also his ninth top-5 showing.

·Daniel Suarez (12th) was the highest finishing rookie.

·For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).

·The following are the playoff standings following the first of three races of the Round of 16. The top 12 drivers following the three races will advance to the Round of 12. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 Monster Energy Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.

Name Pts. Name Pts.

1.Martin Truex Jr.* 2102 9. Matt Kenseth 2039

2.Kyle Larson 2075 10. Ryan Blaney 2034

3.Kevin Harvick 2067 11. Jamie McMurray 2031

4.Brad Keselowski 2061 12. Austin Dillon 2026

5.Kyle Busch 2061 13. Kurt Busch 2026

6.Chase Elliott 2059 14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2022

7.Denny Hamlin 2058 15. Kasey Kahne 2021

8.Jimmie Johnson 2046 16. Ryan Newman 2019

*Advances to Round of 12 with win

·In 12 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. has amassed seven top-10 finishes and three in the top-5. He was a part of the Championship 4 in 2015 when he finished 12th. His best showing was second in 2006.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

·Justin Allgaier won the 17th annual TheHouse.com 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Chicagoland Speedway Saturday afternoon. It is his 15th victory in 233 career XFINITY Series starts, and his second win in 26 races this year.

·Kyle Larson was second and while Elliott Sadler finished third.

·Daniel Hemric (4th) was the highest finishing rookie.

·The following are the 12 drivers who qualified for the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs, which start next weekend in Kentucky. The field consists of four rookies. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.

Name Pts. Name Pts.

1.William Byron# 2025 7. Jeremy Clements 2005

2.Justin Allgaier 2023 8. Cole Custer# 2005

3.Elliott Sadler 2020 9. Blake Koch 2005

4.Daniel Hemric# 2009 10. Matt Tifft# 2004

5.Brennan Poole 2006 11. Brendan Gaughan 2003

6.Ryan Reed 2005 12. Michael Annett 2001

#Denotes rookie

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

·Johnny Sauter won the 9th annual TheHouse.com 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. It marked his 15th victory in 214 career NCWTS starts and his second win in 16 races this year, 13 of which he has finished in the top-10.

·Sauter, the defending Camping World Truck Series champion, now has compiled five wins over the last two years.

·The following are the eight drivers who qualified for the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs, which start next week at New Hampshire. The field consists of three rookies. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.